Inside China’s spectacular and innovative masterpiece

Book lovers and architecture buffs alike have been going ga-ga the Tianjin Binhai Library, a five-storey institution that can hold over a million books. Designed by Dutch design firm MVRDV in collaboration with the Tianjin Urban Planning and Design Institute, the library’s bookshelves surround a spherical structure in the centre of the giant atrium. This gives visitors the feeling of walking inside an eye, which has inspired the nickname, ‘The Eye of Binhai’.

With its cave-like auditorium and floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, you can easily get lost in this library for days and never get bored. But even though Tianjin Binhai has the capacity to hold a million books, that doesn’t mean that it necessarily does. If you look a little closer at the bookshelves, you’ll notice that instead of holding actual books, the library’s walls are printed with pictures of thousands of books. But don’t fret; there are about 200,000 actual books in other rooms for you to read. The awe-inspiring main atrium is mainly intended for reading, socialising and of course, marvelling.

You can access all the bookshelves via stairs on every level. Photo: VCG | Getty ImagesA woman accessing some of the ‘real’ books in the library. Photo: Zhang Peng | Getty ImagesThe new Tianjin Binhai Library is definitely unlike any of your traditional libraries. Most of the books in it are actually fake. Photo: FRED DUFOUR | Getty ImagesThe main atrium area is mostly for socialising. Photo: VCG | Getty ImagesThe spherical structure is in the centre of the library, to which all the bookshelves are pointed at. Photo: VCG | Getty ImagesThis picture perfectly showcases the futuristic design of the library. Photo: Zhang Peng | Getty ImagesThe Tianjin Binhai New Area Library, called ‘the eye of Binhai’, is located at the cultural center of Binhai New Area in Tianjin, China. Photo: VCG | Getty ImagesThe Tianjin Binhai Library, designed by local Chinese and Dutch architects has people flocking from all over the world to experience its wonder. Photo: VCG | Getty ImagesHuge spherical multi-function hall and circle steps to the ceiling. Photo: Zhang Peng | Getty ImagesThe futuristic Chinese library has wowed book lovers around the world with its white, undulating shelves rising from floor to ceiling, but if you read between the lines you’ll spot one problem. Those rows upon rows of book spines are mostly images printed on the aluminium plates that make up the backs of shelves. Photo: FRED DUFOUR | Getty ImagesThe Tianjin Binhai New Area Library has improved the cultural centre of Binhai. Photo: VCG | Getty ImagesPeople milling around the main lobby, which is mainly for socialising, reading and marvelling. Photo: VCG | Getty ImagesThe Tianjin Binhai Library is one of the biggest in the world and has a capacity for over a million books. Photo: VCG | Getty Images